1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to an electric appliance and a control method thereof, more particularly, to an electric appliance which can reduce power-rate in consideration of power-rate information and an implementation state of an operation mode, with providing users with usage convenience.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The power required to operate home electric appliances or office electric appliances may be supplied by an electric power station managed by Korea Power Electric Corporation, transmission lines and the order of the distributed wires.
The electric power has a characteristic of center generation, not distributed generation, and it has a radial-type structure. Also, the electric power has another characteristic of a one-way-supplier-oriented, not consumer-oriented.
Technology of power generation is analog or electromechanical and it has to be restored manually when an accident occurs. Necessary equipment also has to be restored manually.
Power-rate information is not achievable real-time but limitedly achievable via Korea Power Exchange. A power-rate system is substantially fixed price system. Because of that, inducement such as incentives for consumers which uses rate-change cannot be used.
To solve these problems and to improve energy efficiency, research and development for Smart Grid has been under progress recently.
Smart Grid is a next-generation electric power system represented by convergence of modernized electric power technology and information communicational technology, and management thereof.
As mentioned above, a current electricity network is center-based and center-integrated network controlled by a supplier vertically. In contrast, Smart Grid is less-integrated by the supplier and horizontal, collaborative and distributive network which enables the consumer and supplier to communicate with each other.
According to Smart Grid, all of electric appliances, power storage devices and distributed electric power are connected with a network to enable the consumer and the supplier to communicate with each other. Because of that, Smart Grid is often called as ‘Energy Internet’.
In the meanwhile, to embody such Smart Grid on an electricity consumer part such as a home or building, a network connected with a single and plurality of electric appliances is required to implement two-way communications with an electric power supplier about electric power information, out of a passive role only receiving electricity.
Moreover, there have been increasing demands for a home or business electric power supply network system and a managing method thereof, which can determine a power-rate in real-time, when the electric appliances are used, and peak-time of the power-rate for the user to retrain from using the electric appliances in the peak-time as possible and to save the power-rate accordingly.